But a growing body of research is uncovering the many mental aspects of this brain disorder, from the emotional problems such as depression that can show up well before the first tremor to distinct personality traits — a phenomenon those in the field call ‘Parkinson’s personality.’
A Mayo Clinic study presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Miami found a link between anxious and pessimistic personalities and Parkinson’s.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
The researchers’ assumption has been that the personality attributes are early manifestations of the brain changes (essentially, loss of dopaminergic neurons in deep brain areas) in the Parkinson’s disease process. But it also seems possible to me that decades of anxious pessimism can help bring about that neuronal loss and ssentially cause Parkinson’s Disease. The more we look in psychiatry and neuroscience, the more we find that there is a reciprocal, not just a one-way, relationship between brain changes and behavior changes. So… don’t worry. Literally, don’t.
